Continental glory: On the Asian Games 2026

Even as Japan, known for efficiency, welcomes its third Asian Games and the first in 32 years, on Saturday, the Aichi-Nagoya Games have already earned the ‘worst ever’ tag because of accommodation and logistical issues. A country that successfully hosted two Olympics — in 1964, within two decades of suffering atomic bombings, and in 2021, behind closed doors amid the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic — is now strangely struggling to accommodate more than 17,000 athletes and officials from 45 nations in hotels, containers and a cruise ship. Despite these issues, 501 of India’s athletes, including 267 men and 234 women, across 36 disciplines , will try to keep its flag flying high. At the previous Hangzhou Asiad, India had an impressive tally of 106 medals and was placed fourth behind China, Japan and South Korea.